What is the best book available on ventilators?

Nurses General Nursing

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I am looking for an idiot's guide or dummies guide to mechanical ventilators.:confused: I really need something simple and easy to understand. Photos and visual aids in the book would also be helpful. Any advice on good books would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.

I'm sure there's one out there but I haven't seen one, just the basic fundamentals like you'd find in a med/surg book. If you're looking into home vents try your local home medical equipment companies. I did a 4 hour hands on training with home vents. Of course it didn't teach me everything but it helped me feel more comfortable when certain alarms went off and able to change a circuit/play with all the related equipment. The company I worked for (PSA) paid for it.

If you're just wanting to learn for acute care, RT's do everything with the vents.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

see our thread in home health or pulmonary nursing sections: tracheostomy and vent information

also under pulmonary excellent pulmonary resources

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Thanks all for the information.

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Specializes in Peds.

I think hands-on is the best way to learn.......ventilators are not the scary machines lots of people think......they are actually pretty easy once you get the basics.......I was taught by another nurse that took care of my own child who was on a vent before I even became a nurse......and the work horse of all vents that's the easiest is an LP10....ancient but very reliable.....most vents you'd see (if in the home setting ) are LTV's, LP10's and Newports.......... all pretty easy.......the ones in the hospital are the cadillac of vents but usuallly resp therapy deals with those..... I also work for PSA too..that's cool to see another nurse who works for them too....... they have inservice on vents monthly usually......also the medical company that supplies the vent to the patient can help you out there.....and they have a manual they give too .....,, and also there's the good old "Nursing Made Incredibly Easy" magazines.......

The way I started off learning was to remember 2 things.....High alarm....suction or kinked tubing (usually suctioning) and Low alarm=loose.....and follow from the patient by actually following the tubing in your hand....and usually they coughed off the tubing or something came loose and just needs to be reconnected........ and some people do breathe on their own even though they use ventilators......I have had patients that only sleep with a vent ...others who couldn't breathe without it.........but it's all basically the same regardless..........so don't get all freaked out and nervous......it's much easier than you'd imagine.......and everyone is nervous of course if they've never dealt with them before......but once you get the hang of it you'll look back and be surprised at hiow easy it all is I promise! Good Luck!

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

3 of my patients were on a vent called PLV100. I think they are similar to the LP10. I remember when I first started with it, all the tubings and connections felt like a game of high-tech mousetrap, but you get used to it. :) I haven't read all of NRSKaren's articles but I will now!! You can never learn too much.

A couple of things that have helped me are 1) have the owner's manual for that machine you are using and review it often, front to back. It will have the schematic for your machine and what every little beep, light flashing or other distress being indicated means. Those things are sooo reliable (a good thing!) a good amount of time can go by before it starts alarming and you don't want to be wondering whether the 30 second long beep or the continuous alarm or. what the heck, especially if the patient seems panicky.

2)Where I am the RT comes by once a month to check the vents, I try to catch them and pick their brains about anything I have a question about. They are the experts!

I know this sounds reealllly basic, but I've seen it go south a few times, :eek: and that is back-up vent/power supply. Yes, everyone has the Ambu-bag nearby, and in a perfect world nurses don't forget to plug the vent in to re-charge batteries but that is something to be mindful of. One of the families actually has a generator, only used once in 5 years, but you never know. Best wishes!!

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Thanks for the encouragement. I am very nervous. I am hoping to start doing pediatric care in the home. I have to pass a test on ventilators before I can actually start working for the agency. I asked them if they had any kind of study guide material for ventilators and they said no.:eek: I was surprised because I had thought that they would have tons of information on ventilators. I am hoping that they will give me a good orientation to trachs and ventilators.

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

I was surprised, too, Blackcat. No, actually I was shocked! I had to teach myself pretty much!! One of my friends that lived in Texas told me her interviewer at the agency quizzed her, as in a bunch of "what would you do if. . ." questions, so there is at least one agency that is responsible!

One thing I did was go visit web sites geared toward support groups for parents of children with trachs/vents. They often need to know everything we do and more. When you start, insist that the nurse orienting you, (or the relative) answer every question you still have after studying the basics on your own. I'm sure I made a PITA of myself, but hellooo. . . I'm thinking, we are dealing with the A, and the B of ABCs, right? I actually drew diagrams of my patient's vent circuit in a spiral notebook, as they are all a little different. The trach, the swivel adapter, the flex-tube, the speaking valve, the diaphragm, pt pressure, exhalation tubing-- all that is there before you've made it to the vent!!

It really isn't as hard as it sounds, but for those of us unfamiliar, it is. Something else I did is practice putting the circuit together with a spare to get the feel of it. Sometimes it's a little tricky with some components. I still have a hard time fitting a flex-tube over a hard plastic speaking valve. You will find that each family has their unique way of doing things. Hopefully they will freely share, and not feel like the nurse has ESP about every detail of their child's case the second they walk in the door. :)

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When I encounter a vent model I haven't worked with before, I obtain a copy of the operator's manual. Handy guide. But you have to be careful. I looked at a copy of the manual left in the home by the DME company of a family recently, and the pertinent chapters on troubleshooting vent alarms, etc., were conveniently left out on purpose. Now what is the family or the nurse most likely to be checking the manual for, if not troubleshooting alarms or operating problems?

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
=caliotter3;4133447]When I encounter a vent model I haven't worked with before, I obtain a copy of the operator's manual. Handy guide. But you have to be careful. I looked at a copy of the manual left in the home by the DME company of a family recently, and the pertinent chapters on troubleshooting vent alarms, etc., were conveniently left out on purpose. Now what is the family or the nurse most likely to be checking the manual for, if not troubleshooting alarms or operating problems?

. . . well, now that is just disturbing. . . I had a nurse once tell me she learned to always watch those settings like a hawk because (more than once!) the family had been caught doing some "adjustments" that would have 'adjusted' their relative straight into respiratory failure. Never seen that, but yikes!

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I worked on a case where I was the only nurse, the others were unlicensed caregivers. I found the vent settings way off one time and spoke to the patient about it. She swore up and down that nothing was changed by anybody, and I could not convince her that something was wrong and the settings didn't change themselves. She questioned that I even checked the settings and recorded them on my vent form for our chart. That is not the only place where I have found the settings changed. Once a nurse showed me how she adjusted the high alarm and why. I warned her about doing that practice. I charted a special way to indicate when I found the settings to be correct and when I actually corrected the settings, in order to cover myself. Specifically because other nurses would put the high alarm up and leave it that way! If you are going to fool around with something, you should fix it before you go!

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. . . well, now that is just disturbing. . . I had a nurse once tell me she learned to always watch those settings like a hawk because (more than once!) the family had been caught doing some "adjustments" that would have 'adjusted' their relative straight into respiratory failure. Never seen that, but yikes!

I learned to look for this on every case with that DME supplier because the same pages were left out of the manuals in two cases in a row! I was looking for the missing pages so that I could add them and inform the families.

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